War of 1812: Craven County Militia who enlisted in July 1813

The July 1813 invasion is remembered in this photo of a NC Highway Marker from This Day in North Carolina History site.

While going through old files that I’ve brought over from computer to computer over the years (some of which go back to the late 90s!), I found this list titled:

“WAR OF 1812 – 2 REG’T (July, 1813) NORTH CAROLINA MILITIA”

Best I can tell, it’s the Craven County militia that was mustered in July 1813. There are names here that are not in the War of 1812: Militia of North Carolina 1812 and 1814 book.

According to this article, “The Defense of Wilmington” at the War of 1812 Bicentennial site (a project of the NC Department of Cultural Resources ):

In June 1813 a British fleet commanded by Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn established a blockade of the Chesapeake Bay region. Soldiers came ashore at various times and places to seize goods and harass residents. They grew bolder in their excursions, sacking the Maryland towns of Havre de Grace, Georgetown and Frederickstown, and occupying Hampton 25-27 June 1813. Cockburn sent a squadron south to Ocracoke Inlet, where the British occupied Portsmouth, south of the inlet, for four days, 13-16 July. Alarm spread throughout eastern North Carolina, and Governor William Hawkins called up local militia to rendezvous at New Bern, Edenton, South Washington, and Wilmington.

So what happened with our Craven County men who answered the call in July of 1813? Well, we learn this from This Day in North Carolina History:

The invasion, which was part of the War of 1812, was the most serious attack on North Carolina during the course of the war. Cockburn’s fleet included a 74-gun man-of-war, three frigates, a brig, three schooners and several transport vessels carrying nearly 3,000 British soldiers and marines

The British plundered the islands of “200 head of cattle, 400 sheep, and 1,600 fowls of various kinds.” The troops paid the inhabitants for what they took but at prices far below actual value. The Redcoats took customs collector Thomas Singleton’s “papers in his library” and “tore up his law books.”

Though the British took two privateers, a revenue cutter managed to escape their grasp, reach New Bern and alert the rest of the state to the attack. That, in turn, allowed state militiamen to march on and guard coastal towns.

The British fleet sailed for Nova Scotia on July 16, but warned locals that the entire North Carolina coast remained under a British blockade. There is no evidence that the fleet ever returned to enforce it.

And now, the names…